1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pillows, particularly pillows that provide additional support to the neck during sleep, and to neck support members for use in forming such pillows.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
Bed pillows come in a wide variety of forms. Conventional bed pillows are typically fabric enclosures containing a filler material. Such filler materials include feathers, down, synthetic polymer fibres, foam chips, memory foam and solid latex.
It is widely accepted that conventional pillows fail to provide adequate support to the neck, particularly to the cervical vertebrae, during sleep. This is because when a person lies down with their head on the pillow and the head is placed in a neutral position relative to their body, a gap is formed between their neck and the mattress/pillow edge. The gap that is formed between the neck and the mattress when the head is in a neutral position relative to the spine is greater than the gap formed between the head and mattress. This is the case whether the person is lying on their side or on their back. Usually, the filler material of a pillow is displaced or substantially flattened by the weight of the head and neck, meaning that the head and neck are largely displaced from a neutral position.
Conventional pillows do not adequately compensate for the difference of height between the neck and mattress as typically, there is less padding at the pillow edge in the region of the neck than at the middle portion of the pillow where the head is placed. This therefore provides very little support for the neck.
The lack of neck support provided by conventional pillows can lead to neck, shoulder and back pain due to the neck adopting an unnatural posture during sleep, misaligning the spine and placing persistent strain on a vulnerable area of the body, particularly when the subject is sleeping on their side, where the gap between neck and mattress/pillow edge is greatest.
Various products have been marketed purporting to address the problem of lack of support in the neck region. These products typically aim to provide an additional structural support for the neck compared to conventional pillows. These products typically fall into two categories, i.e. pillows having additional neck support permanently integrated into the pillow design (e.g. contoured memory foam pillows) and supplementary neck supports, which are separate accessory items intended to be used in combination with a pillow to form a multi-part pillow.
Integrated Support Pillows
A proposed approach in the field has been to provide integrated support pillows, such as contoured pillows (e.g. orthopaedic pillows) which include a neck support function integrated into the pillow body. This function is typically provided by including an integrated, curved portion at an edge of the pillow designed to mimic and support the natural curvature of the neck. There are many products on the market which offer variations on this approach.
US 20140075677 desribes a contoured inflatable neck support pillow having a central head-resting depression (feature 15 in FIG. 1 of US 20140075677) and an integrated neck support (feature 20 in FIG. 1 of US 20140075677).
US20010018777 describes an orthopaedic pillow having a number of integrated components of varying densities, including a rectangular foam core 10 containing a cushion layer 40 and an integrated layer of foam 50 wrapped around the core.
WO2013/013777A describes a medical travel pillow that contains an integrated neck roll contained in a part of the pillow that is isolated from the main pillow body
Other developments have also been proposed based on the conventional integrated contoured pillow. For instance, CN202843108U describes a nursing pillow that provides thermal therapy for the shoulders and neck. The nursing pillow includes an integrated contoured main pillow body having a conventionally-shaped upper pillow surface for providing support to the neck and head, and a supplementary device for use with the main pillow containing an internal heating element to heat the shoulders and neck. The supplementary heating device and main pillow surface are specifically configured with complementary features designed to releasably interlock. The supplementary heating device has a curved arc portion that is adapted to accept the contoured edge of the main pillow body and provide surface contact between the heating element and the neck, a flat base portion for placement under the main pillow body edge and a concave outer surface portion defining a ramp on which the upper back or shoulders are placed in use. This pillow is intended for active therapy of a subject lying on their back. The nursing pillow body has a cutaway portion in the lower surface for receiving a complementary projecting portion of the supplementary heating device and additional complementary male and female portions meaning that each portion of the nursing pillow is interdependent on the specific complementary portion such that neither the main pillow nor the supplementary heating device would be particularly suited for general use with other non-tailored complementary pillows or heating devices. Moreover, the provision of an upper back/shoulder ramp means that the utility of the nursing pillow is principally restricted to therapy of a subject lying on their back.
Integrated support pillows, such as contoured memory foam pillows come in a predefined geometric shape and typically the filler material, whilst being able to somewhat conform to the user's head and/or neck, cannot usually be readily shaped, plumped or moulded to support a wide variety of sleeping positions or body types. In particular, differences in neck length can significantly affect comfort levels. These pillow types have little flexibility and the pillow's thickness cannot usually be readily adjusted as the filler material is typically not moveable within the pillow. A common criticism of solid memory foam pillows for instance is that they are too hard, rigid or heavy. Another problem is that the resulting curved shape of the pillow is predefined and integrated to match the curvature of the neck when the user is on their side, or back. As the curvature of the neck can differ between users, and the curvature varies depending on whether a user is lying on their side, front or back, a fixed curvature with little flexibility and too much rigidity can lead to discomfort in certain positions. Many contoured pillows on the market have one edge provided with a larger curvature (intended to target side sleeping) and an opposing edge with a smaller curvature (intended to target back sleeping). However, the user's neck length can determine which side is preferred and whether a given side is preferred for side sleeping or back sleeping. It is therefore desirable to provide neck support pillows that are more comfortable for the end-user.
Another variable which the user must consider is mattress hardness. A pillow having a fully integrated neck support, e.g. contour feature, can have a different feel and function depending on how much the mattress deforms under a user's body during rest/sleep. In general, it is difficult for a user to find an integrated neck support product that matches their preferences for head and neck comfort and choice of mattress. This means that if only one of the head portion and the neck portion is satisfactory for the user, the entire integrated product must be replaced. Not only does this incur significant expense to the user, it makes choosing a pillow having the right combination of features more difficult. Moreover, the entire integrated product must be taken with the user when they travel.
Various filler materials have been proposed for such pillows including conventional foam, air (in the case of inflatable pillows) and viscoelastic materials, e.g. memory foam. A pillow made solely from these materials, e.g. memory foam, can provide a different density, feel and comfort to the user compared to conventional bed pillows, which may be undesirable to some. Also, inflatable contour pillows and contour pillows made from solid foam often do not provide opportunity for air to circulate, meaning that these pillows can trap heat and cause uncomfortable sweating for the user when sleeping. Some pillows have holes punched into the body to allow for better air circulation in an attempt to mitigate this problem, but the downside of this is that it weakens the density of the pillow and therefore offers less support.
Supplementary Supports
Another approach has been to provide supplementary neck supports, such as cylindrical neck rolls, which are intended to be used in combination with a main pillow, e.g. a conventional bed pillow, to boost support in the neck region.
US 2010077551 A describes the use of cylindrical neck rolls that can be inserted into elongated pockets in a tailored pillow case.
WO2012/164109A1 describes a contoured pillow provided with a supplementary upper back support wedge that is provided adjacent to and abutting the pillow (see feature 1 of FIG. 1 of WO2012/164109A1). The separate wedge and pillow are enveloped by a tailored pillowcase (features 2, 3 and 5 in FIG. 1 of WO2012164109A1). In this case the neck support is provided by an integrated contour pillow and the supplementary wedge provides upper back support.
WO95/28861A1 describes a pillow comprising two separate parts, i.e. a neck support insert, and a pillow body for supporting the head. The support insert occupies a section of a tailored pillowcase separated from the remaining pillow part by means of an internal wall.
JP2010-088548 describes a pillow including a main pillow for mounting the user's head, and an auxiliary pillow disposed to overlap with a portion of the top face of the main pillow and which is connected to the main pillow body for mounting the user's neck. The auxiliary pillow is substantially flat and is thus tailored to back sleeping.
Such supplementary support devices often provide a marked contrast in feel, density and support between the supplementary portion and the main pillow, which is exacerbated by the disconnect between the two parts. This can lead to the support and main pillow feeling like two separate entities, which can be uncomfortable for some users. Supplementary supports are also prone to moving relative to the pillow as the user moves during sleep, resulting in them becoming displaced and ineffective. To mitigate this movement, products have been proposed having means to physically attach the supplementary support to the pillow. For instance, WO95/28861A1 and WO2013/013777A1 describe tailored pillow cases that envelop the supplementary support and pillow individually to isolate the support and reduce movement, and JP2010-088548 describes the use of a pivotable connection between the pillow and supplementary support. However, these proposed solutions add an additional layer of complexity to the product design, add an additional level of impracticality for the end user, and require a close level of compatibility between the pillow, supplementary support and the pillow case design, meaning that these products offer limited flexibility for the end-user. If, for instance, the end-user lost or damaged a tailored pillow-case designed specifically for containing a certain supplementary support, this may render the resulting supplementary support ineffective and thus redundant.
There is therefore a need to provide products for providing supporting to the neck region during rest/sleep that mitigate or obviate one or more of the problems mentioned above.
The present invention obviates or mitigates one or more problems associated with prior art pillows, as identified above.